The child's father and Elm Grove Police Officer John Krahn raced to rescue the boy. All three were in the van when it was hit but miraculously all survived, although Krahn suffered serious injuries.

"I think about the accident about 100 times a day, easy. There's not a day that goes by that I don't think about it," Krahn said.

The parents and Krahn sued the railroad for negligence, claiming it had been notified about the parade crowd, and the train should have slowed down.On Friday, the case went before the state Supreme Court.

"This very specific individual hazard wasn't taken into consideration in setting the speed limit at 50 mph at the crossing," Krahn's attorney, Robert Crivello, said.

The question that the court will have to consider is whether the railroad was obligated to slow that train down because of the parade.

The railroad argued that federal rules didn't require it, and the parade posed only a potential hazard.

In the end, it's a decision that could have an impact on railroad traffic across the state.

A decision is expected sometime before the state Supreme Court's current term ends in June.